"Coming, coming!" A voice rang out from above the Sea of Consciousness, resounding throughout it. Then the figure of a silkworm materialized within it.
Seeing that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm seemed to have come from somewhere else, Ning Yuhao asked curiously, "Where did you go?"
Unexpectedly, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was quite excited and wriggled up to Ning Yuhao. "To think I actually stumbled upon a treasure! You even have twin martial souls. Besides a mental attribute martial soul, your other tool martial soul is pretty interesting too. I can actually go inside it."
Ning Yuhao was startled by the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's words. He had never expected that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm would discover some crucial clue to the martial soul he had never figured out the moment he entered. At the same time, having twin martial souls filled Ning Yuhao with delight.
"Could it be..."
Ning Yuhao withdrew from the Sea of Consciousness and poured soul power into his right eye. His originally pale blue eye turned bright gold, with golden light spreading from it. No soul ring lit up, but Ning Yuhao still sensed the presence of his martial soul.
Suppressing his wild delight, Ning Yuhao forced an air of composure. "As expected. Even if fate seals away my Wicked Lord Shingan, as the Tyrant's Eye Wielder, I shall still reclaim everything that belongs to me."
"Gasp!" The sound of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm drawing in a sharp breath echoed in Ning Yuhao's mind. He had arrived before the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and had watched Ning Yuhao and Ning Rongrong for quite a while. Yet why did this young fellow seem so different now from when that girl had been around, almost like two different people?
Hearing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Ning Yuhao asked another question. "Do you know what's going on with my tool martial soul?"
"You really are an interesting kid." Watching Ning Yuhao turn serious in a second, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm almost wondered whether he had accidentally scrambled the boy's brains earlier.
"Besides living in your Sea of Consciousness, I can also live inside your martial soul. I have to say, it's pretty spacious, just a little empty. Try pouring soul power into your martial soul."
Following the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's instructions, Ning Yuhao summoned the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. A lustrous white soul ring also appeared around him. Anyone who did not know better really would have mistaken it for a ten-year soul ring.
"Watch closely! Your big brother's coming out!" At some point, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had left Ning Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness and entered the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. As though responding to something, the doors of its first floor slowly opened.
A flash of white light shot out from within, and a miniature Sky Dream Ice Silkworm appeared before Ning Yuhao.
Ning Yuhao could not resist poking him with a finger, only to discover that he was actually solid.
"No need to look so shocked. This is formed from soul power, not a real flesh-and-blood body." The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wriggled, seemingly adjusting to it.
Afterward, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm rambled on to Ning Yuhao about his experiences.
Only then did Ning Yuhao understand why the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had emerged ten thousand years early. During his captivity, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had tried to escape several times. Though he had never succeeded, his attempts had not been fruitless. During one escape attempt, he had accidentally discovered an immortal herb and swallowed it. Unexpectedly, he had reached the age threshold of a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beast, leading to what happened afterward.
After listening, Ning Yuhao recalled the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's earlier words and could not help giving a soft chuckle. "Fate, can your so-called eternity change because of a variable too?"
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm wriggled up to Ning Yuhao, bringing his two tiny eyes close to Ning Yuhao's face. "Kid, I feel like you're pretty much my kind of guy, but I can never understand what you're saying."
Faced with that enormous silkworm face, even Ning Yuhao struggled to keep his composure. He gently pushed the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm away. "That's good. You and I will join forces, grow bigger, and grow stronger."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm twisted around behind Ning Yuhao, raised his head, and leaned against his back. "Hehe, kid, sing your big brother's praises! You possess a million-year soul ring, unprecedented on the Douluo Continent. I'm going to create a god!"
Ning Yuhao nudged the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. "All right, all right."
Then he voiced the question on his mind. "Didn't you need a mental attribute martial soul? Why did your soul ring attach to my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda instead of my Wicked Lord Shingan?"
"I only needed the mental attribute. As long as your mental power is sufficiently substantial, that's enough. I don't necessarily have to attach to a mental attribute martial soul." As he spoke, however, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body grew fainter and fainter, as though he were about to disappear.
"I'm almost out of soul power."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm returned to Ning Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. "Yuhao, work hard. With my help and the Auspicious Beast's approval, I believe in you!"
It was almost evening by the time Ning Yuhao returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Before he even reached the entrance, he saw a girl in a long green dress pacing back and forth by the sect's gates.
Only when she saw Ning Yuhao return did she approach him. "Xiao Hao, why did you take so long to come back? Do you know how long it's been?"
Ning Yuhao squeezed Ning Rongrong's little hand and reassured her in response. "There were a few complications along the way, but I finally figured out my martial soul."
"Huh!? Really?! What's going on with your martial soul?"
Ning Yuhao activated the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda again and released the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. This time, however, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm dissipated after only a moment. Ning Yuhao's soul power had yet to recover.
Ning Rongrong's little face was filled with shock. She pointed first at the spot where the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had appeared, then at Ning Yuhao. "Wh... what's going on? I just saw a soul beast!"
Only when Ning Yuhao took Ning Rongrong's hands in both of his did she quiet down. "It's just as you saw, Sister Rongrong. My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda isn't a pure support-type martial soul. It's a summoning type. I can summon soul beasts to fight."
"So your fighting strength and role both depend on your soul beasts, or rather, the sources of the soul rings you obtain?" Ning Rongrong was, after all, the young sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. After hearing Ning Yuhao's explanation and calming down, she immediately grasped the key point.
"Yes."
"Then why does your first soul ring come from such a weak-looking soul beast? And if I didn't see it wrong just now, was that a ten-year soul ring?" The soul ring had flashed past during the summoning, so Ning Rongrong sounded somewhat uncertain.
"Who are you calling weak?! Yuhao, let me out! I'm going to duel her! Don't think I won't hit a woman just because I'm a gentleman! I'm a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beast! I'm absolutely furious! She has no eye for quality at all, calling my soul ring a ten-year soul ring!"